Worsening drought is no joke

By ROBERT BURNS AgriLife Today

Published 11:50 am, Wednesday, April 9, 2014

As Mother Nature continues to play what seems like an extended April Fools joke on parts of Texas with ongoing drought, agricultural producers have some tough cropping decisions to make, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service crops expert.

“As conditions remain very dry across the Texas High Plains, producers are looking at crop decisions that reflect the drought condition,” said Dr. Calvin Trostle, AgriLife Extension agronomist in Lubbock.

According to the March 25 U.S. Drought monitor, about 67 percent of the state is in one stage of drought or another, with about another 18 percent listed as abnormally dry. These numbers reflect a substantial backslide from what appeared to be a mollifying of drought conditions, as recently as a couple of weeks ago.

And the worsening of the drought is further concentrated in the Texas High Plains and Central regions, where extreme drought is the rule rather than the exception, according to the monitor.

Faced with severe or extreme drought - in many counties now for three years running - producers will be looking at crops based upon crop insurance options, irrigation ability and expectations of rain, Trostle said.

“Farmers with irrigation will most likely plant cotton in the South Plains and a mixture of corn and sorghum in the Panhandle,” he said. “For producers who are dryland, they will probably continue to go forward with cotton. However, because of lower input costs, grain sorghum might be a better choice, especially if they choose to wait toward the tail end of the planting season, which is about a month later for sorghum than it is for cotton.”

Sorghum is highly drought tolerant, but so is cotton, he said. And in some cases, not only are the economic rewards for a successful cotton crop better, but crop insurance coverage for cotton is a little stronger.

“As you move northward into the Texas Panhandle, you’re more likely to see corn on the table as a cropping option,” he said. “Historically, for full-season corn that is fully irrigated, producers want to get it in by April or the first half of May.

“But what I hear from producers today is that if they are looking at limited irrigation, they may choose a corn hybrid with a shorter maturity and maybe plant late May into mid June - even late June if they’re south of Amarillo — just for the possibility of catching a late June rainfall and maturing the crop when the worst of the summer heat is over.”

The week of March 26, dry and windy conditions in the Panhandle continued, with temperatures near average most of the week. By the weekend, temperatures rose to above normal. Though most of the region received some rain, soil moisture remained very short. High winds from 30 to 60 mph coming after the rain dried out what little moisture that was received. Soil temperatures were rising, and producers were pre-watering corn fields and irrigating wheat. Pastures were in bad condition with winds blowing dirt. Supplemental feeding of cattle continued.

More information on the current Texas drought and wildfire alerts can be found on the AgriLife Extension Agricultural Drought Task Force website at http://agrilife.tamu.edu/drought.